Social Norms and Energy Conservation Beyond the US

Abstract

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When Nudges Fail to Scale: Field Experimental Evidence from Goal Setting on Mobile Phones

“…Previous behavioral interventions have proven to be effective tools to reduce resource consumption, such as the widely used social norm comparisons (e.g., Allcott 2011, Ferraro, Miranda, and Price 2011, Ferraro and Price 2013, Dolan and Metcalfe 2015, Pellerano et al 2017, Andor et al 2018, and many others). In the area of goal-setting prompts, we are aware of only one related study on self-set energy consumption goals.…”

Reducing energy and water use through information and social comparisons

“…They also appealed to social norms around conservation, which motivated some people to cut back-often those who consumed the most. At a cost to the utility of roughly US$1 per report, they can be a Germany, electricity use declined by 0.7 percent over one year [7]. In one site in India, reports reduced electricity use by 7 percent over four months [8].…”

“…For example, researchers who tested reports in Germany suggest the smaller effect size they found may reflect the fact that on average German households use less energy than US households [7]. There is also a risk that low energy users may increase consumption after learning they consume less than their peers, as researchers who tested an email intervention similar to home energy reports in Australia found [12].…”

“…Across over 110 utilities and 8.6 million households in the United States [2] [3] [4] [5] [6], one utility in Germany [7], and one site in India [8], providing people with regular home energy reports reduced energy use. Similar reports on water consumption reduced water use in Costa Rica and the US states of California and Georgia [9] [10] [11].…”

“…Across more than 110 utilities in the United States, energy use fell by 1-3 percent over seven to 24 months as a result of receiving regular Opower home energy reports [2] [4] [6] [8]. At one utility in Germany, electricity use declined by 0.7 percent over one year [7]. In one site in India, reports reduced electricity use by 7 percent over four months [8].…”